Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98469 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Our mom has been home for the past few months and agrees it’s time for Brielle to come home.
“It will be fine,” I tell him. “Brielle isn’t a child. Surely, she’ll be reasonable.”
This time, it’s Lorenzo who snorts out a laugh. “Name a woman who’s reasonable.”
“My mother,” I say with a shrug.
“The woman who arrived home after being gone for three years and proceeded to burn everything Andrey had bought in the backyard, so the fire department had to be called out?” Matteo laughs. “Oh, yeah, she’s full of reason.”
“She was going through one of the stages of grieving,” I point out.
“Face it,” Lorenzo says. “We’re surrounded by crazy-ass women in this city, and it’s why we’re all in our thirties and still single.”
Ignoring Lorenzo’s comment, I get back to his original question. “You can come with me, but you’ll have to charter a flight home since I’m heading to Russia after the wedding.”
“Hey, maybe you’ll find a bridesmaid to hook up with.” Matteo waggles his brows. “Need a plus-one? It’d be nice to dip my pole into some new waters.”
“No,” I deadpan. “While I’m gone, I need you to handle shit. But first, we need to figure out this Anthony bullshit. We didn’t do all this work for him to slither in and bite us when we aren’t looking.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Anthony barks, stomping over to me.
It’s been over four years since I last saw him, and time has not been good to him. With greasy blond hair, pale skin, and a beer gut nobody our age should have, he looks like he’s spent the past several years sitting in front of the television instead of getting his act together.
Sure, his dad didn’t leave him shit, but if I were in his shoes, that would’ve motivated me to prove my old man wrong and make my way in this world without his fucking money.
“Hello to you too,” I tell him, glancing around for Matteo.
We’re in public, surrounded by city officials, investors, and the management company that’s running the auction, so as much as I’d like to take this fool out, I need to be careful. I might have most of the city’s police force in my pocket, but there’s only so much they could do if I killed the guy in front of everyone—or if he ended up dead shortly after our encounter.
“They fucking denied me because of you,” Anthony spits.
The auction has ended, and between Russo Property Group and Antonov Enterprises, we’ve scooped up over one hundred and fifty acres in land.
We were hoping to get a few other parcels, but they went to a couple of different bidders. We’ll figure it out though. With the land we have, there’s only so much they can do with the parcels they bought. We’ll contact them and offer them a number they can’t refuse, and then we’ll be set to put our real estate development plan into motion.
“No, they denied you because you’re unstable, and if you default on your loan, they’ll lose their ass. How did you get preapproved anyway?”
“Eric Vanderbilt vouched for me.”
Mayor Vanderbilt? Hmm, that’s interesting.
We’ve been butting heads with the newly appointed mayor since he was sworn into office.
We’d had a great relationship with Paul Astor, the previous mayor, who unfortunately reached the last term allowed. Everything was set for his son, Paul Jr., to become the new mayor, when he was in a car accident that forced him to drop out of the running and allowed Eric Vanderbilt to slide in and win. Something about it always felt shady to me, but now that I know Eric vouched for Anthony, my interest is piqued.
We don’t know much about Eric, aside from him being a conservative family man. He has a wife and daughter, and every Sunday, you can find him at church, sitting in the first row.
“How do you know Mayor Vanderbilt?” I ask casually, watching closely to see how he reacts.
Just as I suspected, he flinches, showing his cards.
“First, you guys took what belonged to me, and then you killed my father,” Anthony hisses, avoiding my question. “You’d better watch your back because, thanks to you, I have nothing left to lose.”
I wait until he’s gone before I pull out my phone and send Matteo a text.
Dominick: I need you to take out the trash.
He doesn’t text back, but I know he’ll handle it. We discussed this when we found out there was a chance Anthony would be showing up today.
Only now, we have one more person on our hit list—Mayor Eric Vanderbilt.
With the auction out of the way, I head home to finish packing for Jaimie’s wedding. Despite the distance, we’ve become close these past few years. I don’t have many friends—in my line of work, it’s hard to trust anyone—but he’s one of the few I consider an ally. So, when he invited me to attend his wedding, I accepted.